Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

Abstract

The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that enable provision of information to a user while protecting privacy. An extraction unit that extracts information from an utterance of a user, an inquiry unit that makes an inquiry to another apparatus when a request from the user is given, and a supplementation unit that supplements the information extracted by the extraction unit to inquiry content when the inquiry unit makes an inquiry are provided. A determination unit that determines whether or not the information supplemented by the supplementation unit is information regarding privacy is further provided. The information extracted by the extraction unit is registered to a database in association with a flag indicating whether or not the information is the information regarding privacy. The present technology can be applied to an information processing apparatus that presents information to a user.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An information processing apparatus comprising:
 an extraction unit configured to extract information from an utterance of a user; 
 an inquiry unit configured to make an inquiry to another apparatus when another utterance of the user including a request from the user is given, the another utterance of the user being given after the utterance of the user; and 
 a supplementation unit configured to supplement the inquiry using the extracted information to inquiry content when the inquiry unit makes an inquiry, 
 wherein the extraction unit, the inquiry unit, and the supplementation unit are each implemented via at least one processor. 
 
     
     
       2. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the information supplemented by the supplementation unit is information regarding privacy, 
 wherein the determination unit is implemented via at least one processor. 
 
     
     
       3. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the information extracted by the extraction unit is registered to a database in association with a flag indicating whether or not the information is the information regarding privacy. 
 
     
     
       4. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein,
 in a case where the information supplemented by the supplementation unit is determined to be the information regarding privacy by the determination unit, the inquiry unit inquires of the user whether or not an inquiry including the information regarding privacy is made to the another apparatus. 
 
     
     
       5. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein,
 in a case where an instruction not to make an inquiry to the another apparatus is given by the user, the inquiry to the another apparatus is canceled or an inquiry excluding the information regarding privacy is made. 
 
     
     
       6. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the determination unit performs the determination by reference to a database in which the information and a flag indicating whether or not the information is the information regarding privacy are associated with each other, and 
 in a case where permission for making the inquiry is obtained from the user, the flag in the database indicating that the information is the information regarding privacy is updated with a flag indicating that the information is not the information regarding privacy. 
 
     
     
       7. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein,
 in a case where the user who has made the utterance is a user with low judgment capability, the supplementation unit does not supplement the information. 
 
     
     
       8. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein,
 in a case where the user who has made the utterance is a user with low judgment capability, the flag to be associated with information from the utterance of the user with low judgment capability is set to a flag indicating that the information is the information regarding privacy. 
 
     
     
       9. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein,
 in a case where the user who has made the utterance is a guest, the supplementation unit does not supplement the information. 
 
     
     
       10. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein,
 in a case where the user who has made the utterance is a guest, the flag to be associated with information from the utterance of the guest is set to a flag indicating that the information is the information regarding privacy. 
 
     
     
       11. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein,
 in a case where the utterance is an utterance in a predetermined area, the flag to be associated with information from the utterance in the predetermined area is set to a flag indicating that the information is the information regarding privacy. 
 
     
     
       12. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein,
 in a case where the information from the utterance in the predetermined area is obtained from an utterance in an area different from the predetermined area, the flag is updated with a flag indicating that the information is not the information regarding privacy. 
 
     
     
       13. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the extraction unit does not extract the information from the utterance when there is no instruction from the user. 
 
     
     
       14. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein,
 in a case where a volume of the utterance of the user is a fixed value or less, the extraction unit does not extract the information from the utterance. 
 
     
     
       15. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the supplementation unit supplements preference information of the user. 
 
     
     
       16. The information processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the supplementation unit supplements information obtained by reference to a schedule and a friend list of the user. 
 
     
     
       17. An information processing method comprising the steps of:
 extracting information from an utterance of a user; 
 making an inquiry to another apparatus when another utterance of the user including a request from the user is given, the another utterance of the user being given after the utterance of the user; and 
 supplementing the inquiry using the extracted information to inquiry content when making the inquiry. 
 
     
     
       18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a program, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to execute an information processing method, the method comprising:
 extracting information from an utterance of a user; 
 making an inquiry to another apparatus when another utterance of the user including a request from the user is given, the another utterance of the user being given after the utterance of the user; and 
 supplementing the inquiry using the extracted information to inquiry content when making the inquiry.